A Guide to finding a good Stylist

    All too often I hear horror stories of hair appointments gone bad. Starting with a new stylist can be a scary step yes it is JUST hair and yes it grows but a bad cut or color job can screw with your self esteem, turn a good day bad, make or brake your mood. Our hair is a way for us to express a little bit of who we are to the world. This is why I am going to "guide" you through a few things that can help you sift through the world of stylist. I have said it before I will say it again, a lot of people do hair, very few people do hair well. I cannot count on my hands and toes combined the number of friends I have that do hair or how often someone tells me oh my cousin does hair my aunt does hair my*blank* does hair! So many people do hair that it has to be hard to choose! Keep in mind this is a guide. What I am about to tell you is only my opinion and there are always some exceptions. But this is rare and the guide will help you. If you are already with a stylist you know and love please do not take this and say to her why dont you do this why do you do that. If its not broke dont fix it! In other words if she does what you like and you are happy dont worry about it! Your happy and that is what matters!

   So here goes first things first, EDUCATION!!!!! This one is HUGE! A sign of a good stylist is one who continues to step out in the world of education. I can say that 1 I have used very very little of what I learned in beauty school... beauty school gives you the basics but mostly teaches us to be safe and clean so that we are not spreading disease, lice, germs or worse causing chemical burns or allergic reactions! Yes our job can be dangerous in the wrong hands! and 2 most of what we learn technique wise in beauty school is useless in the real world. A good stylist will always be up on the hottest trends and be taking continued education as much as she can. I have been told more then once from different teachers "the day someone decides they know it all is the day they stop learning" so true, when you think you know all there is to know you close your mind off and are no longer open to new things. Things are always changing always evolving and a good stylist knows this and wants to take classes.

   Also a good stylist will say NO. I have had many a clients sit in my chair for example with black hair and say I want Gwenn Stefani blonde. Now this IS possible but it will not happen in one appointment in fact it probably will not happen even in 4 appointments and in the process you WILL have breakage your hair WILL be dry and for quite a while you will wonder what was I thinking!!!? I have also had clients who bring me a picture of Kim Khardasian or Britney Spears I have had to say this wont work for you! A good stylist should spend a lot of time explaining to you the ins and outs of what you are in for! What is good for your face shape, or even your life style, some cuts and colors are very high maintenance if I know my client is not a big "blow dry" kind of girl or has trouble getting her hair done every six weeks I will suggest something that will be close to what she is looking for but that also fits her life style and personality. Which brings me to my next point a good stylist knows her worth is confident in her abilities and will charge accordingly. If your stylist is well educated and confident her prices will be or should be a bit more then a "chop shop". When a client comes to me for a cut not only are they paying for my service they are paying for my knowledge and the peace of mind that they go to a stylist who will use that money to take classes and get better for their sake! If I am charging 6 dollars for a hair cut that took me an hour + to do first off I am making less then minimum wage but in turn after paying my business back and taking care of life expenses do you really think that 6 dollars will leave me with money in savings to continue with classes? NO. Might I add my shears cost $350 yes thats right and I keep them sharpened so you get a good precise cut! Sharpening alone cost anywhere from 20 to 60 dollars. I will post a whole other blog on why my scissors cost what they do but a good pair of shears will cost anywhere from 200 to upwards of 1500. Mind you I would NOT spend 1500 I think at that point its simply ridiculous! But non the less our tools (good tools) cost money and have upkeep that also has a cost. Sorry off that rant :P Any who ok so Well Educated past beauty school, fairly but not under priced, and knows when and how to say no.

     Oh here is a big one! I will finish with this! A good stylist will always admit a wrong! Things happen color can do things you did not expect a lot can go wrong even when you are well educated take your time do all the right steps!! I have had it happen where I totally miss a whole spot!! LOL I dont realize it until color is processed all washed out and Im ready to cut!! I could pretend its not there and hope the client does not notice or I can admit my mistake apologize and correct! I would much rather correct it then and there rather then send her home to notice call me all upset and bam now I have to book a whole new appt to fix it! More time for me and her out of our schedule! and at that point Im sure I will have lost a bit of trust.

   I really could keep going but I wont this should get you started and really if I had to pick only 1 good trait to go with it would be well educated! I hope this helps some of you if you are in search of a new stylist, if you are with someone you love I hope it helps you to appreciate them more and if you are a stylist yourself and maybe don't do these things or are lacking in an area I hope it will inspire you to step out of your comfort zone and grow a little bit more as a stylist! We owe it to our clients! Thanks for reading Leave a comment! Have anything to add I would LOVE to hear! Love your stylist I would love to hear or had a bad experience my ears are all yours!! ;)

Updated Pinwheel w/ Ribbon...

as I promised ;)

Leave some L O V E comment and follow :) Thanks 4 watching!

LT

How-to Bobby Pin Flower...

 I did this on my model for my last shoot thought it would be a great How-to hope you enjoy!

Have you ever done anything fun with bobby pins? Do you like this did you try it how easy was it? Leave a comment lemme know!! :)

 LT

More images...

Here is more of me having fun with the showing of bobby pins I simply placed them one by one on a pivot until it created this little flower.

 Mary Poppins esc my model is a Nanny by profession so we had fun with this one!! 

Inspired by Beyonce's music video and for the life of me I cant think of the song it was sorry but I LOVED her extra long braid! 

How cute and clean this image is! The braid was made from a track of none human hair ( like barbie hair so it cant be curled or heated up) but its cheap and good for looks like this I wrapped it around a ponytail of my clients real hair then split it in three and placed a braid! Hope you like :) Leave a comment!! 

LT

PICTURES!!!

 Well I am so excited to share these images with you all. When I decided it was time to "Go back to work"... in translation start this blog, Youtube videos, website, and start taking clients again I automatically thought I really need some new images! Especially since I could not find a professional picture taken of me that I was not pregnant in! LOL. So here they are the start of my new image for all my professional promotion tools and the start of my portfolio. You might recognize some of the clothes they are part of my personal wardrobe ;) and my make up artist couldn't make it (see previous post for reason). But at the end of the day I think I am off to a good start I am thankful for what came of the day and I look forward to seeing everything being put to use!! Tell me what you think I cant wait!!

First look I added in some light and dark blonde extensions through out the bottom of my models hair to create more fullness and a few inches of length. An aqua headband for a fun spin on a center split and of course we could all handle a little more peace in our lives ;) 

 Second look was inspired by what is going on with all of the spring 11' fashion shows bright colors are in. If I can add I am not really excited about this but when I found these barrettes at Sally's I thought what a great way to stay up on the trends without going overboard. I simply pulled back and placed a barrette every couple inches then criss crossed it in the back to connect.

 I LOVE this image my model even without makeup is so gorgeous and this was her first time modeling :) I think she did a fantastic job and we had a blast! This picture makes her look like a pro ;)

 This Faux Bob was inspired by Bumble and Bumble stylists. I rolled her length up and pinned to her base (scalp) pulling out layers to overlap and create a more realistic effect. She was a trooper but wont be cutting it for real anytime soon.

This was FUN inspired by one of my all time fav girls Gwenny Gwenn ;) a mohawk like up-do with exposed bobby pins. The bobby pins were inspired by Amber the teacher of an up-do class I took while working at Carlton Hair International. I think showing bobby pins is fun, edgy and against the grain ;) 

Another image with the Faux Bob I think this girl is so pretty and she pulled off no makeup so well! Those eyes Lips n teeth! Hispanic and Dutch make a good mix!! :D

and here I am doing my thing... I get a very serious look on my face while I work even though inside I am squealing like a pig excited!! When we were shooting the previous pictures I was standing behind the photographer jumping up and down "Oh I love it" "OOO OO that one is fun!" hee hee I love what I do! I love that its not work! and things like this remind me of all that!! Thanks to Lydsey (My Model) Matt Weybright (The Photographer Mattweybright.com) and Janie (His wife) they had just moved the day before! I was so thankful she let him work :) and a very very BIG THANKS to all of you who read watch and follow it is because of you that I have an excuse to book moments like this! As always thanks for reading and looking! Leave a comment tell me what you think!! 

LT

3_Mini Up-Dos

 This video has been I think my funnest yet! I filmed 3 things I do with my hair for DIY up dos. My Favorite is the side braid....

Thanks for watching!!

LT :)

A Series of Unfortunate Events

 As I promised via twitter this post will be all about the adventure of Photo shoot day!! Well adventure makes it sound like it was all fun and games not so much. In fact it was more like a series of miss fortunate events. Lucky for me once shooting started things flowed as smooth as honey! Mind you lack of assistant and Make-up Artist made for a crazy busy LT.  You know looking back on it all as I drove to the studio I thought to myself "this is my life, crazy always seems to sneak its way in, why am I acting surprised?" Truth be told I handled the situation like the pro that I am, its a rare instance that any "event" be it a casual wedding, extravagant photo shoot, or maybe a beauty pageant, that absolutely nothing goes wrong! If you have been in this business even for a short while you know this. I have witnessed on plenty occasions brides freaking out that things are running late. I might have seen ONE wedding that ran on time!

 I am going to start by taking you back a week before the shoot was scheduled. I had an idea of what I wanted the pictures to look like, in studio me doing hair photo lights here and there white or grey backdrop, simple, nothing crazy. I wanted to find a barstool black leather maybe for my model to perch on. This would be my biggest prop. One day while checking the mail I came across a Lamps plus ad and randomly decided to skim through it! Right there in front of my face was the perfect barstool and score it was even on sale! So the next day I went with my husband in tow (to do the heavy lifting of course ;) and we went to our local Lamps Plus. Well they were out! The nearest store with one in stock? Nevada! LOL oh let me go jump back in the car we will shoot right over tell them to hold it!! LOL. The store clerk was actually very nice and said he would arrange for the next truck to bring it out they could have it here that friday! Perfect so I was really excited this was the one thing I was not sure where or if I could find, so it worked out or so I thought! That friday I received a call, my barstool was in. I went down and picked it up as soon as I could. Why I did not check for defects before I left is beyond me. I was so excited I probably just wasn't thinking. Well when I brought it home I took the plastic off and there was a HUGE slice (obviously made by a box cutter) right on the backside of my barstool :( this was going to be a problem since it was the nearest and last barstool within the state. I called the store and they would be more then happy to exchange it but would not be getting another shipment of them until April. This didn't help me since my shoot was last week. That was unfortunate event number 1.

   The night before the shoot I was running around my house like a chicken with my head cut off. Putting together my models wardrobe, making extensions of all lengths and colors, picking out jewelry, and making sure I had all my tools in order and clean. I thought I had it all under control. The shoot was scheduled for 10 a.m. the next morning. I was up until 12:30 making extensions and when I finally went to bed I was still not finished! I woke up at 8 a.m. the next morning a little late since my alarm went off at 6 a.m. So needless to say I was running a bit behind. Lucky for me I have an amazing husband! While I was putting on my make-up and getting myself ready he was packing my car. My plan was to be at the studio by 9:45 to start set up. Umm, I left my house at 9:45!!! Unfortunate event number 2!

    This last event is going to floor you! I bet you couldn't have seen this one coming if you thought the craziest thing ever. So as I am walking out the door I took a quick glance at my phone... I had a missed call from my Make-up artist. I figured it was her giving me an eta. So I called her right back to touch base. She then goes on to tell me that her car is wrecked. She was on the freeway on her way to the shoot and a motorcyclist crossed over double yellows right in front of her!!! She hardly had time to slam on the brakes! My poor friend! I felt so bad, like it was my fault! Of course I know it wasn't but hello she would not have been driving if it weren't to get to my shoot! Now she handled it like the pro that she is!! She was like " Liz, I have to make a report and drop off my car get a rental but I am still going to try my best to make it!!" WHAT!?? See, this girl knows! Things happen the show must go on! LOL Oh let me say everyone involved was ok motorcyclist walked away with out a scratch! My poor friend is probably a bit traumatized she never made it to the shoot and we plan on scheduling a new one since we are both working on revamping our work portfolios. After I left the shoot I called her and she had everything under control... I love this girl she really is a pro! But of course this left me with a make-up less model. Thank goodness for beautiful girls and photoshop! ;) Unfortunate event number 3!!

    So to say the least this was a crazy day full of surprises but I think all persons involved handled it like the pros that we are! We have some really great shots, we had a good time chit chatting with each other, my model was a blast to work with and did a great job she was my own personal real life Barbie Doll a little girls dream come true! Did her hair, picked her outfits and told her how to pose for the camera (with the photographers help of course ;) and at the end of it all... I had the time of my life! I will be using the photos to launch my website! So stay posted. As always Thanks for reading!

                                                                  Love,

                                                                    LT :)